Municipal telegraph apparatus



(No Model.) y

J. C. WILSON.

MUNICIPAL TELEGRAPH APPARATUS.

No. 380,778. Patented Apr. 10. 1888.

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N PUERS. Phaw-LnIwgmplmr4 Washngmn. D. C.

NTE TATES JOHN C. WILSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THEMUNICI- PAL SIGNAL COMPANY, OE PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MUNICIPAL TELEGRAPH APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,778, dated Aprill0, 1888.

Application filed June 29, 1856. Serial No. 206,571. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. WILsoN, of Boston, county of Suffolk, andState of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in MunicipalTelegraph Apparatus, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on thedrawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to a municipal telegraph apparatus by whichcommunication is established between a main station or policeofiice andvarious out-stations or signalboxes on the streets, so that citizens cantransmit calls for aid to the police-station, and the attendant at thepolice-station can communicate with the policemen on the streets.

In various other patents and applications I have shown and describedapparatus of this character containing a multiple-signal-transmittingapparatus at each of the boxes or outstations, accessible only when thebox is open, by which officers may send special signals indicating thenumber of the box and also what is wanted there, and the boxes also haveone signal, which may be called the citizens signal,77 and is operatedfrom the outside of the box,when the box-door is closed, by a suitablekey, such keys being distributed to responsible citizens. The boxes alsocontain a patrol-signal,which was intended to be operated by thepoliceman at statedintervals while going his rounds merely to indicatehis presence at the box and show that he was properly attending to hisduty, and as these patrolsignals do not require any action to be takenat the main office,while the citizens call and special want-signals dorequire immediate attention, means were provided vby which thepatrol-signals, although sent over the same circuit,were received on adifferent receivinginstrument from the other signals that requiredimmediate action.

In some cases it is found to be undesirable to make use of thepatrohsignals, as such signals occupy the line a considerable portion ofthe time and make a great volume of signals to be recorded at the mainofce.

The object of the present invention is to dispense with thepatrol-signals, thus also enabling the independent receivinglinstrument-proceed to the main office or to communicate therewith bytelephone,when means are provided for telephonie communication betweenthe boxes and the main oflice,which is gener- 6o ally the case.

The invention consists, essentially, in providing the boxes withindicatingsignals that can be controlled in the central entice, and theoperation of which preferably can be perceived from the outside of thebox, so that the policeman on coming to the box can tell at once andwithout opening the box whether anything is wanted of him, and if not hecan continue his round without having to open 7o the box and transmit asignal, as would be required under the former system.

The indicating-signals are preferably visual and may consist of a smalltarget or disk con# trolled by an electro-magnet, so that it may bebrought when required into line with a sightopening in the box, whichopening should be covered by glass for the protection of the apparatusin the box. In order that the signal may be readily distinguished atnight, it is 8o provided with a background of phosphorescent materialwhich the disk will partially obscure when the signal is set to summonthe officer and which will be unobscured when nothing is required of theofficer.

rlhe invention also consists n the means employed for operating theindicating-signal without interfering with the operation of the circuitfor transmitting other signals and in Various novel combinations ofinstrumentalities 9c used in carrying out the operation of the system.The employment of an indicating-signal of this character at the boxenables the circuit to be used only for the transmission of such signalsto the main office as require immediate 95 action, or for telephoniecommunication between the boxes and the main office, it being understoodthat when the signal is displayed the officer shall open the box andtransmit a signal to the main oflice that indicates that he 10o is atthe telephone, so that he may receive any instructionsthat may berequired; and this ap paratus also serves equally as a check to thepoliceman,as he knowsthata signal may at any time be waiting for him,which signal will require a response from him showing the box he is at,so that he cannot neglect to visit the boxes without danger tha-tsuchneglect would be discovered, and if there isreason to suppose that anofficer neglects to visit the boxes or remains at one box instead ofgoing to all within his beatthe signals will be set by the attendant atthe main 'office at short intervals, and if the ofiicer fails to respondor responds twice from the sam-e station he can be called to account forhis neglect.

Figure l is a front view of a signal box provided with asignaling-instrument embodying` this invention, being shown with theboxdoor open; Fig. 2, a sectional detail showing the sight-openingthrough which the signal is seen and the phosphorescent background forthe signal, and Fig. '3 a diagram showing the circuit and variousinstruments therein at one of the boxes and at the main office.

The box a and multiple-signal apparatus therein controlled by thepointer a', and operated by the pull a2 when the box-door is open, or bya key inserted in the key-hole a when the box-door is closed, may be ofany suitable or usual construction, several different mechanical devicesfor this purpose having been shown in various patents granted to me. Thesaid signal-transmitting apparatus includes the usual brake-wheel, b,(see Fig. 2,) notched to produce a number-signal representing the numberand indicating the locality of the box, as in the well-known fire-alarmand district-telegraph system, and a number of additional wheels, b, oneonly of which is shown,

and any desired one of which may be placed in circuit according to theposition of the pointer a', to transmit an additional special signal,consisting of a combination of dots and dashes, such as used in theMorse telegraph system to indicate special wants,some of which areindicated on the dial on inner plate, a", of the box in Fig. l. A numberof said boxes a are placed on each circuit or main line, as indicated inFig. 3, and connected with suitable receiving apparatus in the mainoffice or police-station, such apparatus being shown as comprising arelay, r, of usual construction, controlling a local circuit,including aregister, i", by which the signals received from the boxes are recordedon a slip of paper in the usual manner.

In order that the attendant at the main office may find out at any timewhether 01' not an officer is properly attending to his duty byvisitingthe different boxes on his beat, or may direct said officer to report atthe main oflice or place himself in telephonic communication therewith,if it is desired to give said officer some special instruction withoutrequiring the officer to open the box and transmit a patrol or on-dutylsignal each time that he arrives at the box, the boxes are, inaccordance with the present invention, provided with an indicating orsummoning signal which can preferably be perceived from the outside ofthe box, being shown in this instance as a visual signal or target, 0,connected with the armature c of an actuating electro-magnet, d,normally included in the circuit at each box. The said target c ismovable by the attract-ion and release of the armature c into positionto be seen through an opening, e, in the door of the box and acorresponding opening, e', in the internal-plate at, that protects themechanism of the box when the door is open, and when the armature c isin another position the target c is moved away from the said openings ce and concealed behind the door and plate a4 of the box, as shown inFig. 1, where apart of said plate is represented as broken away.

The openings e e should be provided with glassff (see Fig. 2) or othertransparent material, which will protect the box from vthe weather,while permitting the signal to be seen froml the outside of the box.

In order that the target or indicator signal c may be clearlydistinguished at night if the face of the box is not brightlyilluminated, a background, g, having a surface of phosphorescentmaterial, such as the well-known luminous paints, may be used, and thetarget c is preferably of smaller diameter than the opening in the boxand the luminous surface at the rear of the said target, so that thelatter will not wholly conceal the luminous surface but will be stronglyoutlined upon it, the said target being dark or ofsome contrastingcolor, so as also to show clearly in the day-time. As shown in thisinstance, the magnets (l and their armatures are so constructed andadjusted that the normal current used for transmitting signals over theline does not energize the said magnets sufficiently to canse them toattract their armatures and move the targets c into view, and when it isdesired that the signals, 'should be displayed the attendant at thecentral office increases the strength of the current on the line eitherby throwing in an additional battery or by cutting out resistance thatis normally included in the circuit.

The signal-box is also shown as containing a telephone, T, whichnormally hangs in a re cess made to receive it in the inner plate, a, ofthe box, and it operates by its weight a switch, t, that cuts it outofcireuit when hung up out of use, and which may be arranged toshort-circuit the coils of the magnet d when the telephone is removedfrom its support. The box also contains a polarized audible-signalinstrument, S, provided with a shunt con taining a circuit-closeroperated by the door of the box, as described in my former patents, sothat the said instrument is shunted while the box-door is closed, and isthrowninto circuit when the box-dooris opened, and may be used toreceive signals from the main office, or as an answer-back signal toindicate that a message transmitted from the box has been IIO properlyreceived at the main office, the said signal-instrument being operatedbya reversal of the current without opening the circuit.

The arrangement and mode of operation of the parts at the box andcentral station may be best understood by referring to Fig. 3 of thedrawings.

The poles of the main battery B are connected by wires 2 3 with thecontact-pieces i i of a pole-changing instrument, P, of usualconstruction, shown in this instance as operated by hand, and operatingto reverse the connection of the terminals 2 3 of the battery with theterminals 4 5 of the main line, which continues from the terminals lthrough the different boxes, as indicated, in each of which the lineentering at one side-is connected with the contact-springs 7c 7c',co-operating with the break-wheels b b', which are themselves connectedby wire 7 with one terminal of the magnet d, the other terminal of whichis connected by wire 8 with one terminal of the magnet of the signal S,the other terminal of which is connected by wire 9 with one terminal ofthe telephone, the other terminal of which is connected with wire10leading to the next station beyond, and the wire l0, entering thecentral office from the last station, passes through the relay i' to theterminals 5 of the mainline, cooperating with the polechanger. Normally,when the boxis closed, the magnet ofthe signal S is shuntcd by a branch,l2, containing a circuit-closer, m, operated by a projection, m, engagedby the door of the box, and the telephone is shunted by a branch, 13 14,including a circuit-closer that is retained closed by the weight of thetelephone T on its movable supporting-hook t.

The magnet d is also provided vwith a circuit, l5 16, also controlled bythe supportinghook t of the telephone, and so arranged as to be opened,retaining the magnet d in circuit when the telephone is on its hook, butto be closed and short-circuit the said magnet when the weight of thetelephone is removed from the hook.

Normally, when the attendant at the main oice does not care tocommunicate with an officer on the street, the current on the main lineis too small to energize the magnet d sufficiently to move the target cinto view through the opening e of the door, and the policeman, oncoming to a box, merely passes on to the next box without opening any ofthe boxes unless he himself desires to communicate with the main olhce.If, however, the attendant at the main office wishes to communicate withan officer on his beat or to find out whether or not an officer isvisiting. the boxes regularly, each at the proper time, he throws anincreased current onthe line, which energizes the magnets d sufficientlyto cause them to move the targets c into view behind the openings e inall the boxes, and the oflicer, on arriving at any box,will see thesignal and know that the attendant at the main office wishes to of aswitch, o, that closes a branch, 1S 19, of 75 low resistance around thesaid resistance R, thereby increasing the strength of the current in themain circuit and in the magnets d,- and, in order to prevent theincrease of current ,from producing any effect on the relay r, or

requiring a change or adjustment of said relay, the switch o preferablyhas connected with it a second switch, o,which closes a branch, 20,around the relay, the said branch containing resistance R, adjusted tocause the amount of the increased current passing through the relay rwhen the switches o o are closed to be equal to the entire currentpassing through the said relay when the switches o'oareopen andresistance R is in the main circuit.

The connected switches o o constitute a circuit-controlling device foroperating the indicating-signals at the boxes, and thc said signals mayeither be so adjusted that the weak current will not retain the signalin view, in which case the connected switches o o will remain closed aslong as it is-desired to display the signal and the signals can beconcealed by opening the said switches at any time, or the adjustment ofthe magnets d and their armatures may be such that while the weakcurrent will not attract the armatures from their retracted position thesaid weak current will be sufficient to retain the armatures atfor aninstant if the attendant wished to re move the signals after having setthem. Vith this latter adjustment, in which the Weak current issufficient to hold but not to move up the armatures of the magnets d, itwould be preferable to increase the current for the purpose of settingthe indicating-signals by momentarily adding a sufficient number ofcells of battery instead of by cutting out the resistance R, which wouldin such case be omitted, as well as the shunt 2O and resistance R aroundthe relay r.

After a signal summoning to the telephone or any other signal has beenreceived at the main office, the fact may be made known at the box bymeans of the signal S and polechanger P, which latter can be moved a fewtimes to reverse the polarity of the current, andthus operate the signalS, without, however, opening the circuit or in any Way inter- IOO IIS

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fering with the operation of the relay r and other signaltransmittingapparatus, should it happen to be operated at the same time.

I claim- 1. In a police-signal system, the combination, substantially asdescribed, of severalsubstations, each containing a signal-transmittingapparatus, means for operatingit, a visual indicator, and an actuatingelectromagnet therefor, with a main station and an electric circuitwhich includes the several substations and the main station, said mainstation containing asignal-reeeiving instrument and a controlling switchor key, operation of which effects the movement of the visual indicatorsat all .the

sub-stations simultaneously.

2. The main office and signal-box, having a sight-opening and a singleelectric wire connecting them, and transmitting apparatus in the saidsignal-box and corresponding receiving apparatus at the main office,combined with a visual indicating-signal in the box adapted to move intoand out from view at the sight-opening to be observed by a passing oflicer, and actuating electro-magnet therefor included in the single wireconnecting the box and main office, and independent means located at themain office, which may be operated at will to move the visualindicating-signal into and out from View at the sight-opening in thebox, substantially as described.

3. In a police-signal system, the combination, substantially asdescribed, of several substations, each containing a signal-transmittingapparatus, means for operating it, a visual indicator and an actuatingelectromagnet therefor, and a polarized receiving-instrument, S, shunt12, and circuit closer m, with a main station and an electric circuitwhich includes the several sub-stations and the main station, said mainstation containing a signal-receiving instrument and a controllingswitch or key, operation of which effects the movement of the visualindicators at all the sub stations simultaneously, and a pole-changingkey for operating the polarized receiving-instruments.

4. A signal-box and signaltransmitting devices therein, and a mainoffice and signal-receiving instruments therein.and a circuit eonnectingthe said box and office, the signal-box being provided with asight-opening, and a luminous surface behind said opening, combined witha visual indicating-signal in the box and means to operate the same fromthe main office, the said indicating-signal having a target movable intoand out from View through the sight-opening at the front of the luminoussurface, substantially as described.

5. A main office and signalbox,and circuit connecting them, and signaltransmitting and receiving instruments in the said box and main office,the said receiving-instruments including a relay in the main circuit,combined with an indicating-signal in the box, and actuatingelectro-magnet therefor operated by changes in current strength withoutopening the circuit, and a circuit-controlling device at the mainoffice, by means of which the strength of the current is changed, and ashunt around the receiving-relay controlled by the saidcircuit-controlling device, whereby the current in the relay ismaintained constant during the changes in the strength of the current inthe main line, substantially as described.

6. A municipal telegraph apparatus comprising the following elements: asignal-box containing signal-transmitting apparatus and a polarizedsignal-instrument', and an indicating-signal instrument having a neutralactuating-magnet, and a main office and circuit connecting the same withthe signal-box and a receiving-relay at the main offiee,and apolechanger which reverses the current without opening the circuit, anda circuitcontrolling device by which the current strength is changed tooperate the indicating-signal at the box, substantially as described.

7. In a municipal telegraph apparatus, a signal-box and the followinginstrumentalities therein, viz: signal-transmitting devices, andindicating signal and actuating electro-magnet therefor, and a shunt oflow resistance around said magnet,and a telephone and shunt of lowresistance around the same, and a movable telephone-support controllingthe said shunts, closing that of the telephone when the latter is on thesupport and closing that of the indicating-signal magnet when thetelephone is off the support, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

' JOHN C. WILSON.

Witnesses:

BERNIoE J. Novias, F. L. EMERY.

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